The Distribution and Phytogeographic Relationships of the Woody Plants of the Soviet Far East Thomas S
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany Volume 11 | Issue 3 Article 6 1986 The Distribution and Phytogeographic Relationships of the Woody Plants of the Soviet Far East Thomas S. Elias Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/aliso Part of the Botany Commons Recommended Citation Elias, Thomas S. (1986) "The Distribution and Phytogeographic Relationships of the Woody Plants of the Soviet Far East," Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany: Vol. 11: Iss. 3, Article 6. Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/aliso/vol11/iss3/6 ALISO 11(3), 1986, pp. 335-354 THE DISTRIBUTION AND PHYTOGEOGRAPHIC RELATIONSHIPS OF THE WOODY PLANTS OF THE SOVIET FAR EAST THOMAS S. ELIAS Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Claremont, California 91711 ABSTRACT The woody flora of the Soviet Far East is rich and diverse when compared to dendrofloras at similar latitudes of the world. The bulk of this region lies north oflatitude 46 degrees. This area includes the northernmost stations in eastern Asia for many genera, e.g., Abelia, Acer, Aralia, Carpinus, Corylus, Fraxinus, Hydrangea, Ilex, Juglans, Magnolia, Morus, Quercus, Phellodendron, Sasa, Schizophrag rna, Schisandra, Skimmia, Syringa, Tilia, and Ulmus. The majority of the woody species native to the Soviet Far East do not occur elsewhere in the U.S.S.R. Many of the trees and shrubs are native to Japan, Korea, or China and extend into the Soviet Union, or are more closely related to temperate Asian taxa than to European or Siberian taxa. The woody species can be subdivided into seven major elements and from those elements four phytogeographic regions can be recognized in the Soviet Far East based upon the distribution of 311 species studied. The southern part of the region studied, along with most of Manchuria, serves as a refugium for taxa believed to have persisted from the Tertiary or to be at least derived from Tertiary ancestors. Key words: Soviet Far East, dendroflora, phytogeography. INTRODUCTION The flora of the Soviet Far East contains approximately 3100 species of vascular plants (Voroshilov 1982). An interesting array of woody plants, including many broad-leaved, mesic taxa occur here even though 42% of the forested area of this region is covered by larch forest (Ageenko 1969). This study will focus on the distribution of the woody flora of the far eastern region and demonstrate the phytogeographic relationships of this dendroflora with other areas of the U.S.S.R., Manchuria, Korea, and Japan. The eastern Soviet Union can be divided into three major geographic regions: Eastern Siberia, the Arctic, and the Far East (Fig. 1). The Far East includes virtually all of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, the entire Amur-Primorsky region of the mainland, and the coastal regions adjacent to the Okhotsk Sea. Prior to World War II, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands belonged to Japan. The Stanovoy Mountain Range forms an arc delimiting the northwestern boundary of the Far East (Fig. 2). Physical Aspects The physical aspects of the Soviet Far East are treated in the valuable work of Suslov (1961), on which the following summary is based. The southern mainland of the Far East is often referred to as the Amur-Pri morsky region and is characterized by its southerly location (between 42 and 55 degrees north latitude), pronounced monsoon type ofclimate, absence ofglaciation 336 ALISO Fig. 1. Map showing three major geographic regions of the eastern Soviet Union. in post-Tertiary times, and an interweaving of the northern landscapes of Eastern Siberia and Okhotsk taiga with southern landscapes of neighboring Manchuria and Korea. Two major mountain ranges are separated by wide plains in the Amur-Primorsky region. The north-south running Sikhote-Alin range lies parallel to the Sea of Japan. The taller ridges of 4300 ft in the north gradually decrease to 3300 and 2300 ft in the south just northeast of Vladivostok. Forest vegetation ranges from oak to mixed broad-leaved/coniferous to coniferous forests at higher elevations. The Yankan-Tukeringra-Dzhagdy range in western Amur-Primorsky extends basically east to west and lies north of the Amur River. These mountains are formed chiefly of metamorphic schists, massive conglomerates, calcareous sand stones, cherts, and crystalline limestone. The Sea of Okhotsk, bounded on the northeast by the Kamchatka Peninsula, on the southeast by the Kuril Island chain, and to the south by Hokkaido, Japan, has a major influence on the vegetation of the coastal regions of the mainland. The low air temperature throughout the year, cold winters, and short cool summers with frequent fog reduce the water temperature. The major mountain range of the northwestern coastal region of the Sea of Okhotsk is the Dzhugdzhur Mountain Range. In the southern part, this range arcs in a southwesterly direction, converging with the Stanovoy range. The major peaks of the Dzhugdzhur range reach about 7200 ft. Well-defined longitudinal valleys separate the Dzhugdzhur from the smaller Pribezhnaya mountains; the latter drop sharply off to the sea. Sakhalin, a narrow island almost 600 mi long, lies parallel to the mainland coast and only 4 mi from it at the closest point. The two major mountain ranges are separated by a diagonal valley dividing the island into a southern and northern half. The highest peaks are 5500 to 6000 ft. The climate is relatively severe except in the southern part, where it is more typical of that experienced in Hokkaido. VOLUME 11 , NUMBER 3 337 ., Kuril Islands Fig. 2. Map of eastern U.S.S.R. showing major mountain ranges, rivers, regions, and islands. Suslov (1961) cites -9.3 F (-23 C) as the average temperature for the coldest month in the northern part, whereas the southern tip has an average temperature of 17.5 F (-8 C). The large peninsula of Kamchatka begins near 60 degrees north latitude and extends almost 720 mi southwards to 51 deg north latitude. Western, central, and eastern mountain chains are the main orographic features of this region. The highest peak, the extinct volcano Ichinskaya, is 11,834 ft. On the Kuril Islands active volcanos are present. The extremely severe climate is influenced by the cold seas and ocean currents; as a result, the vegetation is typically boreal to alpine tundra. The Kuril Islands form an arc which links Hokkaido, Japan to the Kamchatka Peninsula. This 750-mi archipelago consists of 56 islands along with numerous rocky islets. The southern Kurils including the major islands of Iturup and Ku nashir, are separated from the more northerly islands by the Iturup Strait. Nearly all the Kurils are volcanic in origin, 35 to 40 of them currently active. Most volcanic cones are between 1650 and 4290 ft high, while a few exceed 6000 and 7000 ft. Long, cold winters and cool, wet, often foggy summers mark the climate of these islands. Background In the past, physical access to the far eastern region of the Soviet Union has been difficult and limited largely to the major river systems. Thus, much of the 338 ALISO early floristic and phytogeographic studies were made on the islands (Sakhalin and the Kurils), coastal areas, and along the river basins. Important early botanical works of the Soviet Far East are Ledebour's Flora Rossica (1842), Turczaninow's Flora baicalensi-dahurica (1842-1845), Trautvet ter and Meyer's Florula Ochotensis phaenogama (1856), Regel and Tiling's Florula Ajanensis (1859), and Schmidt's Reisen im Amur-Lande und Auf der Insel Sach alin (1868). Most of these early works were the first major attempts to catalog the plants of specific regions; they served as the basis for some of the early phytogeographic analyses of the Far East. In this paper, I will focus on those works which include a discussion of the relationship of the flora or vegetation. Carl Maximowicz recognized 915 species of vascular plants in the Amur River Basin which are enumerated in the first half of Primitiae Florae Amurensis pub lished in 1859. The second halfis devoted to his lengthy discussions of the climate, phytogeographic relationships, and statistics regarding the composition of the flora. Schmidt (1868) appears to have been the first person to recognize that the island of Sakhalin can be divided into two major phytogeographic regions. He observed that the northern half of the island contained extensive developments of Larix and PicealAbies forests. He also noted that the southern part contained definite temperate elements such as Phellodendron amurense, Quercus mongolica, Vi burnum plicatum, Panax sp., Actinidia sp., and Celastrus sp. The Poronai River valley dividing the island of Sakhalin into northern and southern regions was referred to as "Schmidt's Line" by Kudo in 1927. His two year study supported the earlier findings of Schmidt (Fig. 3). Miyabe and Tatewaki (1937) presented further evidence to support the recognition of this phytogeo graphic boundary. Tatewaki (1958) outlined the characteristics of Schmidt's Line by the features which are present north of the line. These are an extensive development of Larix kamtschatica, the predominance of Picea ajanensis and Abies sachalinensis, the presence of arctic and subarctic plants, the absence of Sasa species, the lack of vines (except for Clematis), and the sharp decrease in temperate broad-leaved trees. Miyabe (1890) and Engler (1899) discussed the role of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands for the migration of plants. Later, Takeda (1913) supported Miyabe's and Engler's findings and stated that "in particular, the Kuriles served as an avenue for the movement of Arctic-alpine elements in the Kuriles and the higher ele vations of Hokkaido." The Kuril Island chain was the object of several botanical studies. In a 1922 paper, Professor Y.